Ninth-ranked Wildcats deliver 'gritty W' over No. 6 Tennessee in Top-10 showdown

Because the nation’s top-rated defense was coming into McKale Center on Saturday, it was pretty clear the Arizona Wildcats probably wouldn’t be able to just dance their way to another triple-digit score and easy victory.

So they did it another way.

In a tense back-and-forth Top 10 showdown, the ninth-ranked Wildcats beat sixth-ranked Tennessee 75-70 largely because of rebounding and a will to get to the free throw line. UA scored 16 more points off free throws, outrebounded Tennessee 38-30 overall and scored 15 second-chance points from 10 offensive rebounds.

They did it with toughness, basically.

“For us to get a gritty W against a team like Tennessee, it was a great night,” UA coach Tommy Lloyd said.

Arizona shot only 42.6% from the field and hit just 5 of 24 3-pointers (20.8%) while Tennessee was slightly better at 42.9% and 28.6%. But the Wildcats more than made up the difference at the line and by gaining a 15-2 advantage in second-chance points.

Azuolas Tubelis led Arizona with 19 points while Oumar Ballo had 18, wing Pelle Larsson had 17 and guard Courtney Ramey added another 13. Arizona hit 24 of 27 free throws while Tennessee took just 10 free throws – none in the first half – and hit eight of them.

“I knew (free throws) were gonna be a way we might need to score,” Lloyd said. “If we could get in the bonus and then stay aggressive offensively, that puts a ton of foul pressure on them. You pound the ball into those bigs. You pound close-outs. It’s hard to play against.”

One of those bigs, Tubelis, might have even erased the memory of his struggles at Tennessee nearly a year ago. The Lithuanian power forward had just six points and three rebounds in UA’s 77-73 loss at Tennessee last season, while playing just 14 minutes in part because of foul trouble. Earlier this week, Tubelis said he was “lost” in the game at Thompson-Boling Arena.

But on Saturday, Tubelis just missed his fifth straight 20-point game by scoring 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting while collecting nine rebounds.

“’Zu has been tremendously consistent all year,” Lloyd said. “Last year, he just had one of those games. Didn’t feel good, got in foul trouble so we had to try to find out how to win the game without him last year.”

This time, guard Kerr Kriisa came into the game not having felt too good during the week, missing the Wildcats’ win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Tuesday because of an illness. Lloyd said he didn’t really even practice until Friday and, while Kriisa played 32 minutes, he was 2 for 9 from the field and made only 1 of 7 3-pointers.

Ramey was the only other UA player to hit a 3-pointer, making 4 of 9, but Tubelis and Ballo combined for 13 for 23 shooting inside to help make up for it – and were even more efficient on the line. Tubelis hit 5 of 6 free throws and Ballo made 6 of 7.

Ballo also punctuated it all by playing a big part in putting the Volunteers away in the final minutes.

Arizona held just a 66-65 lead entering the final four minutes of the game, but Larsson broke free to cut along the right baseline for a layup and drew a foul from Tennessee’s Olivier Nkamhoua, then converted the and-one to give UA a 69-65 lead.

“We have a lot of plays that put players in good spots and we really executed that one,” Larsson said. “They’re a team that pressures a lot and did a good job with that, but we picked them apart in a few areas.”

Then after a missed 3-pointer from the Volunteers’ Tyrone Key, Ballo hit a contested layup to give UA a 71-65 lead that prompted Tennessee to call timout with 1:44 left.

The Wildcats later wrapped it up when Ballo drew a foul under the basket with 27 seconds left and hit both ensuing free throws to give UA a six-point lead.

“It was great,” Lloyd said. “I tell you guys how happy I am for Oumar but we’re in the middle of a journey. So there’s not a lot of time to reflect but to see him step up and hit two free throws at the end of the game gives him confidence. We need him defensively at the end of the game and we need him to rebound at the end of the game.

"When you close out those games, it’s a luxury when your best defensive players and rebounders can also make free throws.”

The win improved ninth-ranked Arizona to 10-1, avenged its 77-73 loss at Tennessee last season, and pushed the Wildcats’ homecourt winning streak to 25 games.

The Wildcats have not lost at McKale Center since Oregon beat them 63-61 toward the end of the 2020-21 season, when fans were not allowed at McKale because of COVID concerns

While Arizona fell into an early 16-2 hole last season at Tennessee en route to its 77-73 loss, the game was close throughout the entire first half and ended up in a 35-35 tie at halftime.

Over the first five minutes Arizona went 5-11 from the field with two turnovers and held a 13-10 lead.

Arizona guard Pelle Larsson (3) goes to the bucket past Tennessee forward Uros Plavsic (33) in the first half of their game at McKale Center.
Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

With a rowdy, big-game vibe in the stands throughout most of the game, McKale Center became quieter midway through the first half while Tennessee took a 27-20 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. Volunteers entered the game shooting just 32.4% from 3 but made 5 of 9 to that point and were shooting 57.9% overall.

But UA tied the game at 29 and trailed just 31-29 entering the final 3:46 of the half, (57.9% overall), getting two layups and a pair of free throws from Tubelis during that stretch.

With 36 seconds left in the half, Arizona had a 35-33 lead but Ramey was called for an offensive foul, and Tennessee's Jahmai Mashack made a layup with two seconds left to tie the game up entering the half.

Tennessee was playing without wing Josiah-Jordan James because of continuing knee issues. Jordan-James, who averaged 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds last season while also being of team's best defenders, made the trip to McKale Center but sat out in street clothes.

Arizona will finish its nonconference season with home games on Tuesday against Montana State and on Thursday against Morgan State before breaking for Christmas. The Wildcats will resume Pac-12 play on Dec. 31 at ASU.

While those final two pre-Christmas games might sound like a potential letdown for the Wildcats, after breathing in the air of their Top 10 win Saturday, both Lloyd and Ramey talked that possibility down right away.

“These next two games are the most important games on our schedule because they’re our next two games,” Ramey said. “They’re two great teams and we’ve got to give them our respect.”